No excuse absentee ballots are expected to be restored. Author: Doug Richards Updated: 6:29 PM EST February 25, 2021
ATLANTA Republican lawmakers say they are stripping some of the most controversial components out of their Georgia election bills.
State Sen. Gloria Butler (D-Stone Mountain) was among the Democrats asking Republicans to provide rationale for bills that would make sweeping changes in election laws – changes he said were rooted in Republican unhappiness over Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia in November. Why does any Georgian need permission from the government to vote absentee? Butler asked the sponsor of a GOP election bill, which had called for eliminating no excuse absentee balloting.
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After a relatively slow start, it’s open season for voting law changes in the Georgia state legislature. Lawmakers have been holding near-daily hearings on voting proposals over the past week, as Republicans follow up on months of promises to change election law based on some of their constituents’ belief in unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud. Democrats have been fighting them at every turn, but as they remain in the minority, it’s likely Republicans will be able to pass some of these proposals into law.
Credit: Nicole Bailey-Covin/CCJ
Republicans in the Georgia Senate are considering walking back some of the proposals in an omnibus voting bill that could end no-excuse absentee voting after outcry from voting rights groups, Democrats and other lawmakers who say some changes are unnecessary.
The Senate Ethics committee will take up a new version of SB 241 Monday morning that removes several provisions from the 25-page bill, including a requirement to have absentee ballots returned with a photocopy of voter ID and a witness signature.
Changes to the bill comes after GPB News reported the initial proposal would give Georgia one of the most restrictive vote-by-mail laws in the country.
February 23, 2021 For 10 years prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, each weekday morning, Jeremy Wilhelm walked from his house in Grant Park to the King Memorial MARTA station.
There, he caught a train to Five Points and then walked another few blocks to his job in a Marietta Street office tower. In fact, when he and his wife were shopping for a house, their top requirement was being within walking distance of MARTA, says Wilhelm, a project manager and analyst at Westat.
Then, the coronavirus showed up, and Wilhelm’s office shut down. He’s been working out of his living room since March 2020 and expects to do so indefinitely. His wife, Holly, used to commute by MARTA, too, riding the train up to Buckhead. Her job as an aptitude consultant for the Johnson O’Connor Research Foundation requires her to be in the office a couple of days a week, but these days, she prefers to drive.
By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism. Guest column, Pam Parish: Georgia legislature should adopt proposed grants for foster kids to attend college or technical school
Kelvin Craig, a 23-year-old former foster child, is not much different than the approximately 700 young adults who age out of Georgia’s foster care system each year.
At age 18 he moved out of his fourth foster home into an independent transition program. Two years later, he decided to pursue a career in computer programming and enrolled at Athens Technical College.
After six weeks, however, he dropped out because he couldn’t get a ride to school. And now he is stuck with a $636 Pell Grant to pay off with no degree and no job. He previously held a series of low-paying hourly jobs in manufacturing, landscaping and working with a land surveying company.